Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Several days have passed in the blink of an eye. The Spring Festival holiday is only five days long, and we will soon be back to work.

That day, Sha Zhu rushed to Li Jiuzhou's office in a great hurry:

"Hey bro, some jerk just showed up at the cafeteria, he's got a real attitude, damn it, let's get him fired!"

Li Jiuzhou raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms:

"Oh?"

"How dare someone run wild on my turf? Where did this bastard come from? What's his background?"

Silly Zhu said:

"The cook sent from the No. 1 Steel Rolling Mill branch to learn is still irresponsible. He says these things are too simple and he won't learn them."

"Interesting, let's go take a look." Li Jiuzhou became interested. They dared to act wildly on his turf; they really had some nerve.

They soon arrived at the first canteen, and Sha Zhu called the man to the back door.

Li Jiuzhou felt like he had seen this person somewhere before; he seemed somewhat familiar.

"Hey kid, where did this idiot come from, trying to cause trouble here? Tell me, who did you learn from?"

Li Jiuzhou started off with casual conversation, showing no sign of intimidation; otherwise, Sha Zhu would have beaten him up long ago.

Nan Yi already guessed who the two people in front of him were, but he still wanted to confirm:

"May I ask if you are Mr. Yu and Chef He in person? My name is Nan Yi, and I am a direct descendant of the Northern Official Cuisine lineage."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiuzhou's eyes lit up. No wonder he looked familiar; it was Nan Yi.

Sha Zhu, on the other hand, stepped forward with great interest to examine Nan Yi:

"Oh my, a descendant of the imperial cuisine family? You little thing, with your skinny arms and legs, how many dishes have you even eaten that you dare to talk like that?"

It's not that Sha Zhu looks down on Nan Yi, but what kind of decent chef ends up like him?

Isn't this a disgrace to official cuisine?

Nan Yi blushed a little after what Sha Zhu said:

"Master He, I have a proper lineage, and I have eaten and cooked a lot of dishes."

"I was forced to come here for training, it's a long story."

Sha Zhu was a little skeptical after hearing this, and asked:

"Then tell me, what dishes can you cook?"

Nan Yi honestly replied:

"Authentic Shandong cuisine (also known as Northern official cuisine, or Confucius cuisine; simply put, it's Shandong cuisine, but it also includes some high-end cuisines like Tan Family cuisine)."

After hearing this, Sha Zhu looked at his senior brother.

Li Jiuzhou stroked his chin and smiled:

"Talk is cheap. Let's see what you're made of. If you do well, I'll keep you as the head chef in the factory, and I'll have Director He look after you."

Nan Yi's eyes lit up with excitement. The reason he was causing trouble was that he wanted to stay at the Red Star Steel Mill. Going back was too damn painful; there were too many bad people there. Damn it!

Moreover, I'm confident that his culinary skills will allow him to stay.

Shazhu also said:

"Since my senior brother asked you to taste-test the dishes, you'd better show some real skill. Don't make something so unpalatable that it's like dog meat, or I'll really beat you up!"

"You two just wait and see," Nan Yi said confidently.

Li Jiuzhou nodded. He had figured it out; Nan Yi was doing it on purpose, but he didn't care.

Nan Yi is a talented person; at least his skills are good. Keeping him around can help Sha Zhu take on more work.

We can't keep having Sha Zhu, the canteen director, do the hospitality work; that would be too undignified.

We arrived at the small canteen that Sha Zhu used exclusively.

Li Jiuzhou gave the instructions:

"Secretary Nie hasn't had much of an appetite lately, so prepare three dishes and a soup for him."

"Braised sea cucumber with scallions, braised pork intestines, stir-fried crispy pork belly and fried pork belly, um... and shrimp soup with tofu."

Sha Zhu immediately instructed his apprentice to prepare the ingredients, and then hand them over to Nan Yi.

Then he and Li Jiuzhou and the others watched from the sidelines.

Nan Yi processed the ingredients at a leisurely pace, which made Sha Zhu nod repeatedly.

After all the dishes were cooked, Sha Zhu was overjoyed and patted Nan Yi on the shoulder, laughing:

"Not bad, you're really good, kid. I've decided, you'll work for me from now on, hahaha..."

Li Jiuzhou also tasted the food and concluded that it definitely had the skill of a top chef, though it was still a bit lacking compared to Sha Zhu.

His apprentice, Li Fulai, is also almost at the level of a master chef, thanks to the painstaking training he received from Li Jiuzhou and Shazhu.

When the factory ran out of food, they sent him to Fengzeyuan Restaurant to train him with the master chef, and he improved very quickly.

At this moment, Li Jiuzhou looked at Nan Yi with admiration in his eyes:

"Nan Yi, you must have something in mind for doing this. Speak up."

Nan Yi hadn't expected Li Jiuzhou to see right through his little scheme, so he stopped hiding it:

"Mr. Yu, Master He, I want to work for you two. I'm having such a hard time at the branch factory. Not only can I not use my skills, but I'm also often bullied."

"I don't know when this will end, so I might as well start over somewhere else."

Nan Yi recounted a long story about his experiences, his conflicts with Cui Dake, and his entanglements with Ding Qiunan.

Silly Pillar truly lives up to his name; he's a saint.

"That Ding Qiunan likes you, right? Now that you're leaving, you're abandoning your sweetheart?"

Nan Yi's face showed a conflicted expression:

"Of course I want to, but I'm just a cook, what can I do?"

"How about you, Master He, switch Ding Qiunan over, and I'll find a time to rape her right away..."

Sha Zhu quickly interrupted him:

"Hey hey hey... what the hell are you talking about? What do you mean by strong or not, fuck your mother..."

Li Jiuzhou found it quite amusing and said to Nan Yi:

"Don't rush into this. Just stay under Zhu Zi's command for now. He'll assign you tasks. I'll help you with Ding Qiunan's future, provided she wants to come to our factory herself."

Nan Yi's eyes turned red after hearing this:

"Mr. Yu, I'll talk to her when I get home after get off work, and she'll definitely be willing to come."

Li Jiuzhou nodded: "Remember, don't tell anyone yet. Secrets are the best policy, leaks are the worst, understand?"

"I understand!" Nan Yi said solemnly.

"I'll lend you my bicycle, go and do it quickly," Sha Zhu said with a smile.

"Thank you, thank you, Master He!" Nan Yi was deeply moved.

Li Jiuzhou then carried the food box to the secretary's office.

Secretary Nie swallowed hard as he looked at the four dishes and one soup laid out on the table.

"Why, are you using this to bribe the officials?"

"Damn it, that cadre can't withstand such a test." He swallowed hard after saying that.

Li Jiuzhou smiled knowingly:

"If you won't eat, I will..." After saying that, she started eating on her own.

Secretary Nie was so angry he laughed, and then sat down to eat with them.

After taking a few bites of the food, Secretary Nie couldn't help but praise:

"Hmm, it tastes good. Did your apprentice make it? His skills have improved recently!"

Li Jiuzhou shook his head: "It wasn't my apprentice who did it."

Li Jiuzhou then recounted the situation in Nanyi.

Secretary Nie was greatly surprised after hearing this:

"Stay! What are you waiting for? Just because the First Steel Rolling Mill is blind doesn't mean we are."

"That Ding Qiunan guy came over too, and we happen to be short a few factory doctors."

Li Jiuzhou smiled:

"Alright, I'll listen to you. I'll test his skills more over the next few days. Of course, I'd also appreciate your feedback."

"What dishes do you think we should cook for him in tomorrow's test?"

Secretary Nie pretended to think for a moment, then said in a serious tone:

"Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is good, Four Happiness Meatballs are okay, Braised Prawns in Oil is worth considering, and Stir-fried Fish Fillets in Fermented Rice Wine Sauce are so-so, um, that's about it..."

"Alright, then we'll test him on these dishes tomorrow!"